I got the extractor that comes with that kit from mannlake. The extractor by it's self is like $250. All stainless. Really nice and operates smooth. Haven't had a chance to run it with frames yet. It works as a radial extractor with 6 shallow frames. Mediums and Deeps you'll have to flip them inbetween spins (tangical?) three at a time.

Theres also that plastic chinese extractor that Dadant sells for like $100. I've heard some really good things about this one too but haven't had a chance to try it out myself. I guess it only does two frames at a time.

Sean Kelly

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"My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste" - Proverbs 24:13

I also got this kit and for the money it was well worth it. Unfortunately my bee yard is going to be expanded considerably this year and I suspect that this 3 frame extractor is going to be too small very soon. With that in mind, for you guys and gals with 20-40 hives, what size extractor are you using? I believe with my lofty goal of 800+ hives I will outgrow a few extractors in time, so eventually I want to get a 40 frame or larger. For now I don't think that is necessary though.

Sean, I bought a plastic two frame extractor and it was simply crap, sorry for the blatentness, but it was totally terrible. The handle bent, it was so hard to turn the handle and I could go on. It is now used for my crush and strain, it works great for that. It is my container I use to hold this honey and then I gate it into another big pail with a honey gate. It works well for this, hee, hee ;) :). Have a wonderful and great day, Cindi

I am going to be buying an extractor for this season, so I am listening to advice from my friends here too. C.

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

I also got this kit and for the money it was well worth it. Unfortunately my bee yard is going to be expanded considerably this year and I suspect that this 3 frame extractor is going to be too small very soon. With that in mind, for you guys and gals with 20-40 hives, what size extractor are you using? I believe with my lofty goal of 800+ hives I will outgrow a few extractors in time, so eventually I want to get a 40 frame or larger. For now I don't think that is necessary though.

I run 30 last year. I used a 9 frame radial hand crank. It worked pretty well. I finished extracting everything in 3 full work days. I was pretty sick and tired of hand cranking that sucker. They make an electric motor for this and if I have to use it this year I will buy the motor for it. That motor costs about $400.00. It will be well worth it to me as I should be 100+ hives for honey this coming season.

I would rather opt to rent the honey extracting room from a local commercial guy and just extract my honey 1 week before he starts his extraction. that would allow me to extract all of it in a day or two.

Don't skimp on equiptment,buy cheap and you will relent it a long time.Having the right equiptment will save you time and time equals money.An extractor that will hold 1 super takes about 15-20 minutes to dry the frame,so how many supers will you expect to harvest?Personally I would rather spend my time working in the bee yards than extracting.bob evans

Don't skimp on equiptment,buy cheap and you will relent it a long time.Having the right equiptment will save you time and time equals money.An extractor that will hold 1 super takes about 15-20 minutes to dry the frame,so how many supers will you expect to harvest?Personally I would rather spend my time working in the bee yards than extracting.bob evans

I also got this kit and for the money it was well worth it. Unfortunately my bee yard is going to be expanded considerably this year and I suspect that this 3 frame extractor is going to be too small very soon. With that in mind, for you guys and gals with 20-40 hives, what size extractor are you using? I believe with my lofty goal of 800+ hives I will outgrow a few extractors in time, so eventually I want to get a 40 frame or larger. For now I don't think that is necessary though.

I have a 12/20 frame extractor from Kelly, can do 20 medium frames at a time (that is two 9 frame supers plus 2 frames) , when I extract its usually in the 90's temp wise so it only runs about total 5 minutes a extraction, it takes longer to let the honey flow out of the extractor than extracting because I filter it coming out of the extractor, that's why I am looking for a uncapper because the extractor is done before I get the next set of frames uncapped.......here's a picture of one like mine, I need to take a picture of mine and the stand its on.

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THAT's ME TO THE LEFT JUST 5 YEARS FROM NOW!!!!!!!!

Never be afraid to try something new. Amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic

Hey guys! I've been waiting to tell someone about MY extractor I got last summer,.I got it even before my bees came. This was one of the best deals I ever came across..Maybe, Dahlia, one of these deals will come up before the spring. Anyways, I clicked on a bee forum.(Dont even remember which one) I went to the trading post and a guy was selling an extractor so I called him up...He was down in San Antonio about 7 hours away. He wanted only 50$ so i said ok, and for him to figure out shipping and stuff. Anyways, with shipping It was gonna be about 160$(seemed kinda high to me for shipping). Now, with some quick thinking, I remembered Debra(who has an office where I work) was doing a 3 week TDY and was fixing to come back in a couple of days. Debra volunteered to go get it from the guy for me(oh yeh,...we watch her dog when she goes TDY) Which was GREAT! So I asked the guys his address and had someone to pick it up for me saving me freight costs. He then said he would take it to her at the base as that was where he works! At any rate, Debra and this guy met and had lunch and she got the extractor for me! I dont know who made it but it hold 4 frames and I hand crank it. I've used it two times so far. I just need to make a device to hold down the spinner to the drum. One thing I'm not sure of is how much it will hold before the spinner is in the honey. I'll find out this summer though. I got it even before I knew what a "frame" was..I just knew I couldnt pass it up for some reason!your friend,john

I got a 9/3 for $450 and free shipping from Brushy Mtn this winter. haven't used it, but I figure that if i can do 9 meds at a time, it should be a while before my expansion outgrows the extractor. It's a hand crank, but could be disassembled and a hand drill used for power. Free shipping beat the 18/9 from mann lake, for $550 + $250 shipping...

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"The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer." - Egyptian Proverb, 2200 BC

If you want to turn your hand crank into an electric buy a variable speed regulator for a routor. I bought one from Harbor Freight Toos for $9.99. With an inline timer and adjusting the voltage you can pretty well let it run itself. Get an extra arbor and mount a pulley on it and replace the handle on the extractor with a pulley. You can also regulate the speed buy using different sized pulleys.

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Life is a school. What have you learned? :brian: The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

I have been reading all the many posts pertaining to extractors...I don't want to spend tons of $$...but I would like more bang for my buck...

Any suggestions on an extractor that can do the job with having to wait days for frames to clear...etc...can't crush and strain as I am pretty certain I will be using PF 120's...

I suggest building one. (Then again I just enjoy that sort of thing). Not certain I can post a link but let's see -Building your own Honey Extractor. (Hey it worked!) There are plans on beesource as well. The thing is that time is also a currency, and you might want to invest it differently than me.

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"Tell me again why you want to put a box with thousands of angry, stinging insects in our backyard?" - my wife.

To the mods. I must apologize. I don't know why I missed this but I did. Next to fatbeeman we have a real celebrity in our midst. So I will commence with a blantant thread jack.

xC0000005 is a person who posted his stories on beekeeping on a website known as Kuro5hin(pronounced corrosion). I am not even sure if you can find those original Tales from the Hive stories unless you are registered with Kuro5hin. The story and comments afterward bordered on priceless.

If there is anyone who early on I found inspring and intrigued me about beekeeping. It was xC0000005. He has since switched to writing at Voice of the Hive. How I missed this I am not sure blame it on brain fart if you must.

This is someone who tells the best bee stories I have read in a long time. I for one am grateful to see you posting in this forum.

We now return you to your regular thread topic.

Sincerely,Brendhan

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The status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it. Dr. Horrible